OOOOH, Spookity stuff! Hee hee hee...

So it is Friday the 13th.  I happen to be one that has BETTER luck on this day.  All (physco)logical, I am sure, but so be it.

But on top of that, there is a full moon. 

Oh, how tempting to go out and howl, and see if I can get all the local dogs to start up. 

Too bad I am a good neighbor... And people would 99% be sure it's me, because most assume I am a wee bit more than a half bubble off plumb anyway, what with hanging out looking at the sky all the time...

Meh.  Enjoy your day, and may your luck be GOOD!!

(But you know, watch out for black cats and ladders, that sort of thing. Hee...)

How to work on a pattern.

This was my morning, folks.

1. Get pattern out from basket I am storing it in.  Pick up all the extraneous papers that fall on the floor.

2. Find tissue paper to make copy, tape, and tape original to window, to use as light box.

3. Get tape from cat, unpeel drooly part, play with cat, and tape.

4. Go back to window, tape tissue paper mostly to window.  Realize the ripping sound is the tissue paper taped to thumb.  Cat jumps in window to inspect sound.  Put cat down, get new tissue sheet.

5. Get tissue in place, grab pen.  Start to trace outline, cat jumps on sill to watch.  Put cat down, finish one side.  Play with cat some more to celebrate.

6. Finish drawing pattern, carefully remove from window.  Put original away, put away tape, look for pen.  Cat has pushed pen off shelf, rolled it under table. Get pen.

7.  Go to craft table to finish.  Remember I had a large project spread out.  Remove project from table.  Put down pattern.  Cat jumps on sill at furthest point from table.

8. Flatten out pattern, find a few spots that still need tape.  Go get tape, with cat racing me through the hallway so fast she bank shots the corner.  Repeat on the trip back into the craft room.

9. Finish taping, start cutting out pattern.  See cat jump on table, dead center of pattern.  Decide that moving kitten would be disastrous in her state of hyper.  Distract her with a finger wiggle.  She jumps down, I continue.

10.  Finish cutting pattern, start on repeat for other side.  Cat decides to sit on table to watch.  Starts eating other project.  Finally have to toss her off table, so I don't have a destroyed project.

11.  Tape both sides together, check that I have everything even, fold up pattern, it works!  Cat then loses interest.

12.  Wonder how people who don't have "help" get things done...

Sorry, Jerry Garcia...

What a long, strange day it has been.

Well, you know how I blog about volunteering for the Sheriff's Office?  Well, BOTH my bosses were laid off.  It was really abrupt, and things are crazy at the moment.  We had a meeting/pot luck to see what was going to happen.  Basically, they will be there until the end of the month, and then THEIR boss will be our boss, if we are kept on.  The Sheriff would like to keep us on, so he can keep the substations open, but the one that is going to be the 'new' boss has about 3 or four groups he is working on now, he has other things that have been added, with the cuts, and gee, he really should do the 'catching the bad guy' stuff, I suppose... (Yes, heavy snark content...)

I have so enjoyed this 'job', and it has been as near to a family atmosphere as I have ever seen with a group, and this is just tearing the absolute guts out of nearly everyone.  I have started writing letters to whomever I can think of on how this can be changed.  I don't know if it will help, but at least it will make me feel like I am doing something besides gnashing my teeth.

Okay, enough with the unhappy s***.  In other news, I know spring is coming!  Because:

First egg of the season! Yay!  I don't have to buy eggs now.  (I buy them begrudgingly, as I don't use lights in the chicken house, so for a few months in winter I get zippo in the egg department...)

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I was going to put this last section up in the morning.  Well, it is morning. Barely.  To explain.  I am signed up with a county wide notification system.  It notifies big stuff (chemical leaks, major weather events) and then it can notify in specific areas, about localized events.  This is what occurred this evening about 6ish.  I received a phone call that a woman had been lost about a half mile or so away from me, as the cliche'd crow flies.  I filed it away under "Hmm", and went on.

We went to bed a bit later, and realized we heard helicopters.  They were doing a grid search, I suspect, as I heard LOUDquietLOUDquietSORTAloudquietquietquietquiet gone.  I went to sleep.

I woke to lights in the bedroom!  

I panicked, jumped out of bed, and as always, tangled in the **** bedsheets, waking Husband.  I headed to the window.  Husband, who seems to always be a bit more clear headed right after waking up, unlike me, said, it's probably just the Search and Rescue (SAR) kids.  

Oh...  Right. 

I went to the door, while Husband went and shushed Rudee, and listened.  3 or 4 "kids" were walking up the road, shining flashlights in the ditches, on the road, across the pasture, anywhere a person might be, while talking about what direction they were going next.

Yep, SAR.  I think my heart rate slowed to less than 100 at that point.  I went back to bed.

And didn't sleep.  

Between thinking about the bosses being canned, worrying about the woman, and if she was okay in the latest weather we've had, (somewhat chilly, and heavy rain, with cooler weather to come), wondering how the deputies were doing out there, and the fear spike, I didn't go back to sleep.  I tried several things, and calmed down, but still couldn't sleep.  So, I got up, turned on my computer, (light level as low as I could get it on same) and read comics, wrote an email or two, and decided I would add to this blog.  

Sooooo, I will let you know how all this turns out, but even with cuts, it looks like the Sheriff is still going to be busy!  I might even see if I can take some water and snacks down to the group later, if the search is still going on.  

And, it's 2 am by the computer clock, so I am going to TRY to go to bed again, and see if I can at least salvage a LITTLE sleep.  

Which, the way things are going, means Husband will be up at 3ish to finish some job...  : /

(Update:  At approximately 9:30ish a.m., the woman was found, and is safe, so the end to this story was happy, if nothing else!)

Quack! And water skiing?

Made it out okay so far with the rain, no power outages, and only a few places around this area underwater.  Husband had to drain out some water that seeped into the shop, but it wasn't excessive.  We have half a moat around the house, the drain is flowing so we have what looks like a small creek behind our house.

And the water has receded. Some.  That being said, the weather people are all showing the lovely videos of the rain that we are going to continue to get... All week long.  I am sure hoping this doesn't create problems later.  The rain is a pain inna tookus... 

BUT...

If we get wind, or if it gets down to freezing... We're in trouble.

In other news, I can't decide if this is idiotic, unlawful, crazy, or just creative.  Probably all of them... 

It's Christmas, and the fruitcakes are in bloom...

I couldn't decide if this was funny, or just mental.  Or, possibly, both.

In Jantzen Beach Center, in Portland, OR, there was a man attacking people that were Christmas shopping...

With a Star Wars Light Saber. 

I have this image of the guy making the "whoosh" sounds as he conks someone...  Fortune had it, no one was hurt.  However, if you click on the above link, there are some really funny comments about Jedi, Star Wars, et al.

Here's hoping your Holiday Shopping is much less eventful.

(And if you are a total Star Wars geek, he used a Rebel Alliance blue, not the Dark Side's red saber.  Like that makes a difference, in this case...)

Racial profiling? This is a real reach...

I went to my spinning group today.  It's held in a local senior center.  This is not a problem, I love (most of the time) to hear the thoughts and stories of some of the folks there, and they seem to enjoy the wheel and finding out about what I am doing.  I even know exactly how we should solve all the government's problems, thanks to a trio of exceedingly opinionated gents that commandeer the snack table in the morning.

I have been asked many different questions about my wheel, my shirts, (I wear t-shirts with slogans and pictures, it's good for a bit of a conversation some days), and the ever present, what are you doing/spinning/making? 

The conversation took a... really weird turn today, however.

A lady walked by me, then turned quickly, and asked, "Are you American Indian?"

Now, any one who has seen me, would not realize that I am part Blackfoot.  In fact, I think I look like I am part Casper the Ghost, but I digress.  I quickly registered what she'd asked, and answered her, asking why.

"Oh, because you have long hair, I ask all people with long hair if they are Native.  I'm Cherokee."

Uh... Sure.  This woman has asked me if I am Native, because of my HAIR?  Would she have thought I was of African decent if I had corn rows, or German if I had those cute little side braids??? 

So, before I could escape go to my wheel, she asked if I had ever been to a pow wow.  I told her I had not.  She then told me that she'd been to a few, and that it would be good for my spirit to go to hear the drums.  I nodded politely, wondering if Steve Ferrone counted...  I managed to politely extricate myself from the conversation, and sat to spin. 

She then came over and asked if I enjoyed spinning.  I said yes, I found it relaxing, and fun.  She then said, oh, do you dream about it?  I told her possibly not that fun.  She then asked if I liked doing puzzles, (there was a group nearby working on one of those 5000 bit ones).  I said they were all right, but I was busy spinning and knitting most of the time.  She looked annoyed, and sniffed, "They make me want to whistle brass..." and walked away. 

I have no idea what whistling brass is, but from her expression, I figure it's not good.  But, she did finally decide she'd had enough of me.  I try to be respectful of my elders, but man, when you slide down that rabbit hole, you don't have a CLUE what's going to come by next!

(And if I cut my hair, does my nationality change?)

And since I had that goofy morning, I decided to share.  I had one of those strange, strange thoughts that you get at 2 am...  Can Santa Claus sue The Jolly Green Giant  for copyright infringement? 

***

Prompt: Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn't go for it?

I think we've covered this.  I have already talked about playing the guitar, and my book, so I won't bore you with a repeat.

I suppose, trying to win the lottery.  How about that for trying something.  I have this little problem with winning the lottery, however. 

I rarely buy tickets! 

In fact, I think the last time I bought any tickets was a couple years ago, and I don't think that counts, since I gave them out as Christmas gifts.  (Sadly, no winners in the bunch, as I recall.) 

So, I guess, I will have to continue to live the beleaguered life of the un-enriched...  ; )